Georgy Pobedonosets large amphibious assault ship enters one of the bays of Sevastopol in March 2014

MURMANSK, July 03. /ITAR-TASS /. Russia’s Georgy Pobedonosets large amphibious assault ship has returned to the Northern Fleet’s main base, completing the longest voyage in the Russian Navy’s modern history, Northern Fleet spokesman Yevgeny Kirillov said on Thursday

The Georgy Pobedonosets, which returned to the naval base along with the Olenegorsky Gornyak amphibious assault ship, spent more than 10 months during its naval march, the spokesman said.

“Following the results of accomplishing the tasks of the distant march, some servicemen have been recommended for state and departmental awards,” the spokesman said.

At the start of the voyage, the Georgy Pobedonosets made a march to Russia’s Baltic Fleet where the ship’s crew participated in the drills for landing marines onto rough terrain.

During their voyage, the Georgy Pobedonosets and Olenegorsky Gornyak amphibious assault ships sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, passing through the Barents, Norwegian, Baltic, North and Mediterranean Seas, making numerous calls at naval bases of the Russian Black Sea Fleet and ports of foreign countries.

The Russian warships covered a distance of several dozen thousands of nautical miles.

During their stay in the Mediterranean Sea, the two large amphibious assault ships held dozens of joint exercises as part of the Russian Navy’s permanent grouping in the region and practiced a whole range of missions together with the forces of the Baltic and Black Sea Fleets.

A festive reception ceremony was held for the amphibious assault ships in Severomorsk, in which Northern Fleet Commander, Admiral Vladimir Korolyov took part.

The fleet commander said the ships’ crews had successfully accomplished their missions in strategically important areas of the World Ocean, demonstrating high naval skills, teamwork and professionalism during the voyage.

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Snap checks in Russia's Armed Forces

Military drills and surprise combat readiness checks held in the Russian Armed Forces lately have demonstrated that the Russian army and navy can efficiently perform real combat missions, Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said last week.

“The work, which the Defense Ministry is carrying out to raise the level of troops’ combat readiness and preparedness and equip the army and the navy with armaments and military hardware, is yielding the necessary results,” Shoigu said.

The Russian Armed Forces have been involved in a series of large-scale military drills and snap combat readiness checks lately.

Almost 250 drills and about 8,000 firing exercises were held in the Russian Armed Forces from December 1, 2013 to May 31, 2014, Russia’s Defense Ministry said.

In particular, troops of the Western and Central Military Districts, as well as forces of some service arms were alerted in a combat readiness check from February 26 to March 3. The maneuvers involved 110,000 personnel, 90 aircraft and over 110 helicopters, almost 900 tanks and up to 80 warships and vessels.

Several large-scale military drills were held in June 2014. On June 7, Russian President ordered a combat readiness check of railway troops in the Central Military District and on June 21-28 all of the district’s troops and forces took part in the check. The drills involved over 65,000 servicemen, more than 180 aircraft and about 60 helicopters.

Plenty of attention was drawn to Russia’s large-scale military exercises in its Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad on June 10-20. The maneuvers were held along with NATO’s military exercises in three Baltic states and in the Baltic Sea.